


By Your Side

by pixelpiano



Series: Elibe Week 2k18 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Awkwardness, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Teasing, Trans!Lucius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 02:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13695390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixelpiano/pseuds/pixelpiano
Summary: Lucius and Raymond discuss the future...





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> For Elibe Week 2018.  
> Prompt: Frost/Fire (Originally Sun/Star)

* * *

             “Say, Raymond…”

             The red-haired mercenary grunts an acknowledgement as he continues sharpening his sword, not looking up.

             “Well…” the blonde-haired monk muses, his voice soft and delicate. “I know you aren’t one to-…to dwell on the past, shall we say…”

             “Just spit it out, Lucius.”

             Lucius sighs. “I only perhaps wondered if you had ever considered-…well, _settling down_ , at some point in your life?…”

             Raymond looks up from his sword with a hard, but not unkind gaze. “We’re out here to find the truth of my family’s death, lest you’ve forgotten…”

             “Of course I haven’t forgotten…” Lucius says, shaking his head, “But then what?…”

             Raymond raises an eyebrow. “…what do you mean?”

             “Once you’ve found the truth and gotten your revenge…what do you plan to do then?”

             Raymond shrugs, and goes back to sharpening his sword.

             “I presumed as such…” Lucius says, his eyes downcast. “…forget that I asked,” he adds, turning back towards the scripture he was reading.

             The sounds of stone scraping on metal continue droning rhythmically a while as Lucius’s eyes sway back and forth across the pages of text. Instead of reading, however, his mind wanders in circles of doubt until Raymond’s voice interrupts.

             “Lucius?…”

             “Yes?”

             “…what’s your dream, in this life?”

             Lucius pauses, taken aback. “…pardon?”

             “Your dream—you know, something you’ve always wanted to do with your life? Something that, no matter how grim the days have been gives you a reason to wake up each morning?”

             “Forgive me for asking without answering,” Lucius starts, raising an eyebrow, “but what brought this about?”

             Raymond shrugs, pulling out a rag to begin polishing his blade with. “I don’t know much about you outside of your time with my family. Figured the most important thing to know about a man is what keeps him going when things get tough…”

             Lucius thinks a moment, touched by Raymond’s words. After a short while, he finally speaks: “You know of my childhood years in the orphanage, yes?”

             “I thought you hated your time there…”

             Lucius nods. “Indeed, those are still the darkest times in my life. And yet, what better reason to ensure that no child ever has to live through the pain that I did?”

             “Are you saying your dream is to run an orphanage someday?” Raymond asks, having since put down his blade and turned towards Lucius.

             Lucius nods. “Perhaps that is what I’m saying. Think of it as a wish to be one of the last children who is forced to grow up in such circumstances.”

             For a brief moment, a smile echoes across Raymond’s face. “That certainly sounds like a wish you would have.”

             “I suppose.”

             The two sit in comfortable silence for a moment.

             “For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a great housefather…” Raymond says.

             “You think so?”

             Raymond nods. “Though, I suppose you might need someone else to watch over you, in case your fits were to return…”

             Lucius sighs, and nods in agreement.

             “Anyway, does that answer your question?” Raymond asks, getting up.

             “My…question?”

             “You asked what I planned to do after I found out the truth about my family,” Raymond says, walking over to lean against the chair Lucius sits in. “I’m not sure if ‘housefather’ is a job that keeps food on the table, but I suppose there’s always mercenary work to cover those costs—”

             “You mean-…?”

             “—and if it makes you happy, then who am I to complain?”

             “…thank you, Raymond.” Lucius says, smiling shyly.

             “Yes, well…” Raymond turns his face away from Lucius so as to hide his flushed cheeks. “It’s only fair after dragging you across the continent twice for my own selfish reasons…”

             Lucius smiles, and lays a hand on Raymond’s, which rests upon Lucius’s chair. His gaze then falls sullen again as he looks up towards Raymond.

             “Forgive my selfishness…but-,” Lucius begins, stammering slightly, “…there is something else I would ask of you…that I ask you answer truthfully…”

             Raymond nods.

             Lucius takes a deep breath. “Your…your _disposition_ towards me…that you wish to live by my side after all this…” He pauses, his eyes gazing off into space.

             “Yes…?” Raymond asks, trying to catch Lucius’s gaze.

             “Is it-…” Lucius pauses, the words struggling to leave his mouth, “…forgive me…I just worry that…that your only desire to have me is-…is my _feminine_ form…”

             Both mercenary and monk sit in tense silence.

             “Forgive me…” Lucius says, quickly. “I have pried t—”

             “I have no desire for the company of women,” Raymond says matter-of-factly.

             “—too much into-…pardon?” Lucius asks, taken aback.

             “I said I have no desire for the touch of a woman,” Raymond repeats, rubbing the back of his neck.

             “I…I had not realized,” Lucius responds.

             “You never asked…” Raymond says.

             “Then…” Lucius continues, “…all this time…”

             “I-it’s not as if there was ever a need to bring it up!” Raymond continues, his speech growing more rapid and erratic. “We’ve been concerned with matters of truth, not of the flesh!!”

             “…flesh-?” Lucius asks. His eyes then widen with realization. “Wait-…so when you asked me-…us travelling together-…all this time, you-…?”

             “…so what if I have?…” Raymond mumbles indignantly. “…it doesn’t matter anyway,” he continues, turning away from Lucius’s gaze, “I thought the teachings of Elimine… _looked down_ upon such ‘physical desires’…”

             Lucius strains to hide his smile until a small chuckle escapes his lips.

             “W-What’s so funny?!” Raymond huffs.

             “Forgive me, Raymond…” Lucius says, failing to continue stifling his giggles, “but do you mean to tell me that you have been _lusting_ after a holy monk of St. Elimine this whole time???”

             Raymond’s face goes bright red as he stammers incoherently, causing Lucius’s laughter to persist.

              “Oh Raymond…” Lucius continues laughing, shaking his head, “I had not realized I had failed you so poorly at your scripture lessons…”

             “My…scripture lessons?” Raymond asks, still muttering and hiding his face.

             “You always did prefer your ‘words’ with an ‘s’ in front of them…” Lucius teases, wiping laughter-induced tears from the corner of his eyes.

             “The original scriptures of St. Elimine only ‘…[ _forbid_ ] _those material desires which are selfish in nature;_ ’” he quotes in explanation. “ _So long as one acts with consent, to bring happiness to the lives of others, and does not go against Her other teachings, such acts are to be celebrated, and not condemned._ ”

             “Oh…” is all that Raymond manages to say.

             Lucius gets up and places a hand on Raymond’s shoulder. “Forgive me, Raymond,” he says, his voice soft and compoased again, “for the pleasure I have taken in seeing you so…so unlike your typical, stoic self.”

             “It’s fine…” Raymond mumbles.

             “Though...now that-…that I know of these feelings you hold…” Lucius stammers, blushing slightly, “might you-…that is-…if it is something you want as well—”

             “…spit it out, Lucius…” Raymond says, turning to face him.

             Lucius pauses, and screws up his face determinedly. “…kiss me, Raymond…” he says, looking Raymond directly in the eyes.

             Raymond obliges, leaning in only to stumble through an awkward kiss.

             “Sorry…” Raymond says after their lips part. “Not sure that’s what you were expecting…”

             Lucius shakes his head. “It wasn’t…” he says. “T-then again-, I don’t really know _what_ I expected!…” he continues, stammering.

             Raymond doesn’t say a word, and his gaze falls downward.

             Lucius quickly catches Raymond’s gaze and smiles shyly. “…but I liked it…”

             A faint smile creeps over Raymonds face, and he reaches his arms around Lucius.

             “…is…is this okay?” Raymond stammers, after a moment of holding him awkwardly.

             Lucius leans into Raymond’s arms, resting his head against his shoulder.

             “It’s perfect.”


End file.
